The International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency, reported that around 36,825 people fled five towns in North Kordofan state, Sudan, between October 26 and 31 following the seizure of El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Most fled on foot to Tawila, a city west of El Fasher that is now home to more than 652,000 displaced people, according to the UN.
More than 36,000 Sudanese have fled the Kordofan region of eastern Darfur after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the town of El Fasher, the UN migration agency said.
The area between the Sudanese provinces of Darfur and the coastal region of Khartoum, which includes the capital, has become the latest front in the two-year conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF.
Residents of North Kordofan reported an increasing presence of RSF and army units across the state, as the two sides compete for control of El Obeid, the state capital and a key logistics hub linking Darfur with Khartoum. The city is also home to a major airport.
“Today, all our forces have converged here on the Bara front,” an RSF member said in a video posted by the group late Sunday, referring to a town north of El Obeid. RSF said it had taken control of Barca last week.
Suleiman Babiker, a resident of Um Smeima, west of El Obeid, told Agence France-Presse that the number of RSF vehicles had increased since the group’s capture of El Fasher. “We stopped going to our farms for fear of clashes,” he said.
Another resident, who spoke anonymously for security reasons, said there had been “a large increase in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El Obeid” over the past two weeks.
Martha Pobee, UN undersecretary-general for Africa, warned last week of “large-scale atrocities” and “ethnically motivated retaliation” by RSF in Bara. He said the violence reflected patterns seen in Darfur, where RSF fighters have been accused of mass killings, sexual violence and kidnappings against non-Arab ethnic groups after the fall of El Fasher.
On Sunday, Pope Leo called for an immediate ceasefire and the creation of humanitarian corridors in Sudan, saying attacks on civilians and restrictions on aid “are causing unacceptable suffering.”
Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, Imadeldin Mustafa Adawi, accused the RSF of committing war crimes in El Fasher and said the Sudanese government would not negotiate with the group. He urged the international community to classify it as a terrorist organization.
(The UK Guardian)
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